http://mmajunkie.comWith three fighters having already punched their tickets to the semifinals, Bellator heavyweight tournament entrants Mike Hayes and Alexey Oleinik fought for the remaining spot in the main event of Wednesday’s Bellator 26 event.

The opening-round tournament matchup, though, proved a sometimes-slow and lumbering affair – and one exceptionally difficult to score.

Ultimately, though, Oleinik did just enough to earn a split-decision victory, which aired live on FOX Sports Net from the Kansas City Power & Light District in Missouri.

In fairness, the fight had plenty of action. It’s just that it often
unfolded in a drawn-out fashion with each fighter struggling to
capitalize on advantageous positions. For example, Oleinik’s ability to remain active off his back likely won him the fight. However, it also gave him countless opportunities to finish the fight early, though he couldn’t capitalize on triangle-choke, armbar and his patented Ezekiel-choke attempts.

The submission attempts became all the more difficult by the third round, when a deep gash in Hayes’ eyelid left both heavyweights doused in blood. Although a ringside physician cleared the cut, the blood continued flowing, and it made the duo’s ground and clinch fighting all the slippier and sloppier.

After a final and spirited standup exchange, the fighters took to the center of the cage, where Oleinik learned he earned the judges’ nod.

With his win over Hayes (12-4-1 MMA, 1-1 BFC), Oleinik (28-5-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC) now meets fellow semifinalist Neil Grove on Sept. 16 at Bellator 29. On the same card, Cole Konrad takes on fellow heavyweight Damian Grabowski. The two winners meet in a tournament finale later this season that crowns Bellator’s first-ever heavyweight title.

In the night’s co-feature and a bantamweight-tournament opening-round matchup, Danny Tims and Jose Vega posted three fast-paced and action-packed rounds. And though the fight was closer than the scores would suggest, Missouri-based fighter and crowd favorite Vega earned the unanimous-decision win.

Tims, though, struck first and dazed and ultimately dropped his opponent with a quick barrage of punches. But moments later – and it would become a common theme throughout the fight – he struggled to keep Vega on the mat. His takedowns and attempts to pull guard continually came up short, and Vega continually escaped.

“It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be,” Vega said of the fight. “But I’ve got wrestling. You can’t take me down easy.”

Tims found an opening again in the second round after a brief timeout due to a low blow. But Vega again survived and then slowed Tims with a series of stringing low kicks. That made his takedown defense all the more effective and eventually allowed him to claim the decision victory via scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28.

Vega (9-3 MMA, 2-0 BFC), who scored a dazzling 39-second knockout of Jarrod Card in June to earn his way into the tournament, now advances to the final four and moves a step closer to Bellator’s first-ever 135-pound title. Tims (9-3-1 MMA, 1-1 BFC) suffers just his second defeat in his past six fights.

In the night’s lone female fight and an opening-round bout from Bellator’s 115-pound women’s tournament, Lisa Ward scored takedowns with ease and used a smothering and effective top game to score a unanimous-decision victory over previously unbeaten Aisling Daly.

Ward set the tone early with a head-arm throw – a move she’d used throughout the fight – that set up dominant top positions. The former high-school wrestler immediately launched a barrage of punches, and in later rounds, mixed in submission attempts. But Ward simply couldn’t secure the stoppage. Instead, she settled for a dominant and lopsided unanimous-decision victory with 30-27 scores on all three judges’ cards.

“She’s a tough chick for sure,” said Ward, who next heads to Hawaii for her honeymoon.

Ward (14-5 MMA, 2-0 BFC), who’s faced some of the world’s top female fighters during her six-year career, adds another notable to the list as she advances to the semifinals. Daly (9-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC), meanwhile, tastes defeat for the first time and goes to a decision for just the second time in her career.

In the night’s first televised fight – and in a bout that promised the winner a spot in the upcoming season-four welterweight tournament – Steve Carl fought back from the brink of defeat and scored a come-from-behind submission victory over Tyler Stinson.

Carl scored a quick takedown, but Stinson went high with his guard and quickly secured a tight triangle choke. And even when his opponent lifted and slammed him to the mat in effort to break free, Stinson maintained the submission hold for the better part of a minute.

Carl, though, survived and soon returned to his feet. Once there, he locked on a guillotine choke, flopped to the mat, and appeared to knock out Stinson in the process. A few moments later, Carl told the ref to check, and he quickly waved off the bout with Stinson clearly asleep.

The stoppage came at the 2:30 mark of that first round.

“I forget we were fighting for a while,” Carl said. “I was getting him up for the slam, and I already felt myself going out. I was hoping I could put him out there.”

Carl fell short in Bellator’s season-two welterweight tournament when he lost to eventual runner-up Dan Hornbuckle in the semis. With his ninth win in 10 fights, Carl (11-2 MMA, 2-1 BFC) wants a chance to avenge the loss. Stinson (19-7 MMA, 1-2 BFC), meanwhile, snaps a two-fight win streak he built after an opening-tourney loss to Hornbuckle in that season-three tourney.

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